Which category of lifetime adversity accelerates physical impairment among Israeli older adults?

Abstract

Preliminary evidence suggests that exposure to lifetime cumulative adversity is related to faster increase in physical impairment with time, especially when depressive symptoms are present. Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether different adversity categories accelerate impairment. The current study capitalized on the unique accounts of adversity available in the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel) by focusing on different categories of adversity, while accounting for their interaction with depressive symptoms in predicting trajectories of physical impairment (i.e., chronic medical conditions and disability). Data of 1665 participants (mean age = 63.08, SD = 10.04 at Wave 1) were drawn from the first three waves of SHARE-Israel. Respondents reported exposure to bereavement (e.g., experiencing the death of a spouse), war and terrorism (e.g., being wounded in terrorist attack), and victimization (e.g., being a victim of abuse or assault). Other measures assessed depressive symptoms, chronic medical conditions, and disability. Growth-curve models showed that bereavement and exposure to war and terrorism were related to specific measures of physical impairment. Moreover, three-way interactions showed that clinical level of depressive symptoms coupled with exposure to either bereavement or war and terrorism predicted a faster increase in chronic medical conditions and disability. The findings offer a differentiated outlook on the effect of adversity on age-related increase in physical impairment. Practitioners should consider that older adults previously exposed to bereavement, war and terrorism are at risk for a hastened physical decline, especially when they suffer from depressive symptoms.

Short-Term Mental Health Sequelae of Bereavement Predict Long-Term Physical Health Decline in Older Adults: U.S. Health and Retirement Study Analysis

“…Bereavement is associated with acute increase in symptoms of depression, which manifest right around the time of death and subside within a year (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7). In contrast to the transience of depressive symptoms, physical-health sequelae of bereavement may be more persistent, as indicated by increased risk of death among the bereaved (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). Despite evidence for a link between the two (1), mental-and physical-health sequelae of bereavement have often been studied separately.…”